Thursday, December 7, 2017

The lace, the bows, the navy, this might be one of my favorite recent looks. This shirt can definitely feel more summer-y (and I'll definitely be wearing it next summer!) but with the right accessories it can be made cold-weather appropriate too. I love that this look is pretty much monotone but with the bows, stripes, lace, jean, and puffer vest, the different textures help the look not feel too boring since it's all one color.

This top is from Shein, which can sometimes be hard to shop so if you're shopping from them here are my tips:

1. Check the material - a lot of their stuff is 100% polyester but I usually look for the blends or if you're lucky, 100% cotton items are best!

2. Read the size chart - nothing is sized the same but the size charts are usually spot on. I've ordered some small, some large, some medium, it's always different.

3. Read reviews - my #1 tip - there are usually a good number of reviews and people are honest. There are times I think I've found a gem only to read not so positive reviews and on the flip side I've loved some items that had hundreds of positive reviews!

All in all, the stuff is comparable to Forever 21 quality but even cheaper and if you take you're time and follow the steps above, it will help finding the good stuff!

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Growing up is weird. You're life is constantly changing, choices are harder to make, and priorities become new. Now that we have a baby, we have decided to spend Christmas morning with just us three at our house. I am so excited to spend a quiet morning in our new house with our new little girl but I still can't help but feel a little weird about it all. I think because this is the first year that "home" is a totally new place.

If you call "home" from my phone, it still goes to my parents house, and until recently that is what I defined as "home". I moved a lot in my twenties, mostly throughout apartments in Boston and then more recently, I moved into my husband's house before we got married. We spent most of 2016 living in my in-law's basement (we sold the first home) while we built the home we live in now so I never stayed anywhere long enough for it to feel like "home". We moved at the very end of last November so our house was still new for the holiday's and didn't yet quiet feel like "home". Fast forward one year and this house more than feels like home. Maybe it's because we built it from the ground up, maybe it's because this is where we brought home our little girl, or maybe it's a combination of everything but I'm just excited to be "home for the holiday's" for the first time.

We spent this past weekend putting finishing touches on the Christmas decorations in our home and then walked around downtown before watching the Christmas parade. It was the perfect, relaxing, family weekend. I wore these new booties, which might be the most commutable booties I own. This was the first day I wore them and they needed no breaking in and feet were fine all day! I actually don't own any back leather booties so it was time to add some to the mix.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

One of my favorite times to try new beauty products is around the holiday's. Most brands offer "gift sets" which are often times a small collection of travel size times, perfect for testing new products without investing a ton. This is how I've discovered some of my most favorite beauty products over the years!

Space NK is a luxury beauty brand that has a beautifully curated collection of high end beauty items, everything you need from skincare to hair products to the latest lip colors. Recently, they have partnered with Nordstrom making their awesome items even more accessible and one of their exclusive products is the Holiday Hero's collection which is a limited edition collection of their best selling favorites. I was so excited to receive this special bag filled with goodies from Space NK and try out the products, some of which had been on my list to try!

Included in the collection are:

By Terry Baume de Rose Crystalline Mini - I had never heard of this brand before but this might be my favoriteproduct from the group. It's hydrating, not sticky, and smells perfect. Looks like a gloss but acts like a chapstick, what more could a girl want?

Kevyn Aucoin Beauty The Volume Mascara - This wand is small and precise making it perfect for the bottoms lashes. I'm a crazy mascara person so I don't love this for the top lashes but I'll definitely be reaching for it for my bottoms!

Sunday Riley Good Genes Treatment - This is another contender for my top favorite product. First of all I love the branding/packaging of Sunday Riley and it makes me want to try even more products by them. Second it really does make my freshly washed skin look brilliant and plump!

Travel-size Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray - This is the product I was most excited about and had been wanting to try. I have to say, it's exactly as amazing as all the reviews lead you to believe. It makes my curls look not so perfect and adds volume to my otherwise flat hair. After cutting 8 inches off recently, this is exactly what my hair needed!

Smith & Cult Glass Souls Nail Lacquer - The perfect party nail :)

Lipstick Queen Medieval Lipstick- This looks dark and intimidating but really it's sheer and adds just the perfect hint of red! Amazing for the holiday season!

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

We've started a new weekend morning tradition of going to get coffee and breakfast downtown, really early while it's still quiet and peaceful. Since the baby wakes up around 6:30am, we will head downtown after her first feeding to grab coffee, a quick breakfast, and go for a stroll. It's so fun and different to see downtown in a different light and is the perfect, relaxing way to kick off the weekends. Do I wish we started this tradition when it was still relatively warm out? Sure do. But that only means it's going to be even better in the spring.

This past weekend, I wore this new sweater from Target. I've always been a Target lover (who isn't?) but their new line, A New Day, is seriously becoming an issue for my wallet. Everything is so on trend, really affordable, and the quality is better than most of my past Target clothing purchases. This sweater is my favorite blush color and I'm loving the detailing on the back. Makes an otherwise plain sweater, pretty fun! The sweater itself is almost a towel material but in a good way, you won't get too hot when wearing it. In case you're curious I also have this sweatshirt tunic (in pink and grey), this sweatshirt (love the mock neck!), and this skirt (so fun for a Christmas party!) and I'm sure there will be more to come. Anyone else loving this new line?